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Air Squat
'Basics' Here are some valuable cues to a sound squat. Many encourage identical behaviors. 1. Start with the feet about shoulder width apart and slightly toed out. 2. Keep your head up looking slightly above parallel. 3. Don’t look down at all; ground is in peripheral vision only. 4. Accentuate the normal arch of the lumbar curve and then pull the excess arch out with the abs. 5. Keep the midsection very tight. 6. Send your butt back and down. 7. Your knees track over the line of the foot. 8. Don’t let the knees roll inside the foot. 9. Keep as much pressure on the heels as possible. 10. Stay off of the balls of the feet. 11. Delay the knees forward travel as much as possible. 12. Lift your arms out and up as you descend. 13. Keep your torso elongated. 14. Send hands as far away from your butt as possible. 15. In profile, the ear does not move forward during the squat, it travels straight down. 16. Don’t let the squat just sink, but pull yourself down with your hip flexors. 17. Don’t let the lumbar curve surrender as you settle in to the bottom. 18. Stop when the fold of the hip is below the knee – break parallel with the thigh. 19. Squeeze glutes and hamstrings and rise without any leaning forward or shifting of balance. 20. Return on the exact same path as you descended. 21. Use every bit of musculature you can; there is no part of the body uninvolved. 22. On rising, without moving the feet, exert pressure to the outside of your feet as though you were trying to separate the ground beneath you. 23. At the top of the stroke stand as tall as you possibly can. Teaching The Air Squat SETUP: *Stance = shoulder width *Full extension at hips and knees EXECUTION: *Weight on heels *Lumbar curve maintained *Chest up *Butt travels back and down *Bottom of squat is below parallel (hip crease is below the top of the kneecap) *Knees track parallel to feet *Return to full extension at the hips and knees to complete the move *Head position is neutral Seeing The Air Squat PRIMARY POINTS OF PERFORMANCE: *Lumbar curve maintained *Weight in heels *Depth below parallel *Knees track over feet Correcting The Air Squat FAULT: LAZY LUMBAR CURVE, OR LOSING IT (I.E., “BUTT WINK”) • Fix – Lift the chest while engaging the hip flexors by anteriorly rotating the pelvis strongly. • Fix – Raise the arms as you descend to the bottom of the squat. FAULT – WEIGHT SHIFTS FORWARD TO BALLS OF FEET. • Fix – Exaggerate weight in the heels by floating the toes slightly throughout the entire movement. FAULT – NOT LOW ENOUGH. • Fix – Cue “Lower!” and do not relent. • Fix – Squat to a 10” box or medicine ball to develop awareness of depth. FAULT – KNEES ROLL IN. • Fix – Cue “Push your knees out” or “Spread the ground apart with your feet.” • Fix – Touch the outside of the knee and have the athlete press into your hand. FAULT – TRAIN WRECK SQUAT: INABILITY TO MAINTAIN LUMBAR CURVE, STAY ON HEELS, AND GET TO DEPTH ALL AT THE SAME TIME. FAULT – IMMATURE SQUAT: LUMBAR CURVE IS MAINTAINED, DEPTH MIGHT BE THERE, AND HEELS ARE IN CONTACT WITH THE GROUND, BUT THE ATHLETE HAS TO CANTILEVER FORWARD EXCESSIVELY ONTO THE QUADS TO MAINTAIN BALANCE. • Fix – Squat Therapy: Set up the athlete facing a wall or pole with a 10” box under their butt. Set them up in the proper stance, with heels to the box, chest close to wall. Have them squat to the box slowly, maintaining control and weight in the heels. Coaching Cues Butt Back etc